Initiation
by MiyuTanemura
Summary: Natsu's long journey on the Path. Natsu/Gray


Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.

* * *

Initiation

The greens and browns from the trees and the path greeted Natsu. He could hear the rustle of the leaves and the noises coming from the wildlife.

The human presence didn't seem to bother the forest or its inhabitants in the least but, then again, humans seldom went there – and only for very special reasons for the forest was known as the Initiation forest.

Natsu walked resolutely. The morning sun was ascending slowly in the sky and transforming everything with its warming light. He paused to run his hand over the bark of a tree, to feel its roughness. It reminded him of the things he had done before embarking on this journey.

His life before the journey…

Before.

Well, before he had had a life but, in hindsight, it would have led him down this path anyway.

He used to be a blacksmith at his village, working with a few other men. Little did he know that the art of being a _smith_ was going to take such an important place in his life.

Because, long before unknowingly starting to walk down this certain path, Natsu had seen a good number of things through dreams and visions that he couldn't exactly understand. The dreams still accompanied him in certain nights.

The strange occurrences – and sometimes their results and previsions – had made him wonder and curiosity grow. He knew that there had to be an explanation to these strange happenings so he had to discover it and that had him start to go down his current path.

Back at home things had gotten weird at a certain point. He wanted answers but didn't know how or where to get them. Nobody from his foster family – which basically just consisted of his father, Igneel – and his friends knew how to answer his questions. And then the village at large had come to know of that small secret.

Well, one thing he couldn't say about his village was that it was a bad one, with all things considered. He heard stories of far away villages where people to whom these strange events happened were persecuted and had terrible ends.

And then Natsu learned that the whole village's nonchalant attitude was due to the fact that the area where it was, was considered important to those… well, the name that was given commonly was Sage so, yeah, they were Sages. Natsu hadn't known this because the kids were usually kept unaware as the older people deemed these matters too delicate to such young ears – years before there had been a good number of troubles because of that.

After the _event_ it had been all in the clear so the Council allowed this matter to be spoken of freely once again. The adults had been bound to silence until then.

The old and eccentric Skvor had come forward and called himself the village's Sage, the one that took care of that particular area among the Sages.

He had rounded up all the youths and then called a few, Natsu included, and talked to them. Telling them how he had observed them and found them promising. As to what, at first, he didn't say.

They spent weeks having a crash course of some concepts they had to familiarize themselves with. So during the day Natsu was at the smithy, one day like any other, and during the evenings and nights he would be with Skvor and the others, talking. He learned a lot.

And then came the night in which he told them of the _path_.

He also told them of the cycles of seven years, told them how important it was for them to start their journey on the path before their twenty-first winter as that was the age when they would reunite the necessary conditions to give the step to enter a Mystery Confrary. The Confraries were very important places and, therefore, many people tried to attend them because they were places where the Big Quest could be taken more seriously and where powerful things happened.

Then Natsu and the others had been taken to a small village that was lined to go alongside the river. Natsu had been introduced to the Magister of the village, a small elder that exuded power and knowledge, the lines marring his neck and arms also giving him a stern look. His moustache moving slightly as he nodded knowingly at Skvor while the latter introduced the new seeds. Natsu ended up paired with a pretty blonde who was in the village with her two siblings. They were under the guidance of a moody wti-Magister that was there with his son.

It didn't take much for Natsu to notice that among his colleagues, they all bore what looked like birthmarks – just like the one he had on his right shoulder.

Time passed and after a while, they deemed him ready to have his Initiation and so, they had brought Natsu to this place, to the forest of Initiation. It was a sacred place since the layer that separated the worlds was much thinner and it was also much easier to contact the Ancestors.

And so, here he was. Dressed in a thin dark green robe and walking towards where his feet would take him – he didn't have an exact destination consciously. The path he had taken had the bushes and trees extending their thorny fingers towards him, ripping the thin fabric while paper-thin lines were left in their wake.

Natsu heard a noise he recognized and headed towards it.

It was a little stream, from where came watery, compelling noises. He knelt by the shore to drink some of the crystalline liquid, feeling it slide down his throat and refreshing him from the inside out.

Since the weather was warm he decided to plunge his legs into the water. For long minutes he splashed in the cool water absentmindedly.

Just a little fun before going back to the serious matters.

After that pause to play around Natsu, completely drenched, sat down on a patch of grass that was being lit by the sun and stayed there.

He crossed his legs and let his forearms rest on his knees, the tips of his fingers being grazed by the blades of grass nearby as he extended them to the ground. He had his back straight and closed his eyes.

He could hear the Nature, all around him burst with life, at a level that was different from the usual. It was closer and, at some point, felt like it was talking to Natsu, something old, visceral even, that was thrumming in his blood.

The water, so nearby, the earth, that almost seemed to pulse under his fingertips and the wind, caressing his skin tenderly.

To complete the cycle there was one element lacking.

Fire.

Inhaling and exhaling, Natsu opened himself to the elements, allowing the ones that surrounded him fill him with energy. And then he was ready to try to reach the fire.

His fire was burning deep, deep, deep within. He could feel it, faintly. It was just a flicker, way too thin a wisp, muted. But he wanted. He wanted, yearned even, to get to it.

Just achieving that would be very important since it would allow him to continue and to plunge deep down, inside himself and, after a journey so filled with challenges and setbacks – that he had faced already and would, no doubt, continue to litter his way – be able to achieve the final goal.

After some minutes that extended endlessly, Natsu frowned.

Something had changed…

His surroundings had changed.

Natsu could still _feel_ the surrounding area but that vivid, stark impression from before was no longer the same, was no longer enough for his senses for it sounded that everything had, suddenly, gotten too far away.

The timid brush of his senses, too impaired by the life outside this forest, towards Nature wasn't enough.

Direct contact was needed.

The chance to see better, feel more solidly, hear loud and clear.

Suddenly opening his eyes, Natsu started blinking. His sight, at first unseeing, became blurry and then focused on the stream and the grass that bracketed it. What he saw was clear, as usual, but deep in his gut, Natsu felt that something was amiss.

Slowly, he got up and stretched. It was time to get back on the road.

He let his feet take him to what felt like the right direction.

That was when Natsu started to feel ill at ease. The forest had changed once again, the area around him seemed as if it had turned against him in some way, like Nature was rejecting him being there, stepping on that patch of grass and dirt, breathing and polluting the atmosphere with his exhales, disturbing the well-kept balance of sounds with his noises.

So it acted towards expelling Natsu. Where before the tree trunks and branches were made of wood now sharp, glinting metal rested, piercing Natsu's skin like daggers.

Natsu's blood started welling up and soaking the fabric of his still-clinging robe. Still, Natsu pushed forward, he could hear the calling that beckoned him more and more. He could feel the blood slipping down his neck, from his fingers and it didn't take him long to notice how it seemed that his own vital fluids were attempting to get out of him, to be absorbed by the trees and branches and grass and dry soil. It made the area that immediately surrounded him be bathed in red although there was still a shine reflecting back at him, the slickness of the blood permeating everything.

All of a sudden the ground started to tremble, the shaking becoming stronger until it went seemingly upside-down, plunging Natsu in overwhelming pain.

He was freefalling yet his feet rested solidly on the ground.

Razor-sharp winds seemed to cut his skin.

Natsu tried to take a deep breath but he couldn't even do that! For every breath he managed to take it felt like he was being stabbed on the inside with the smallest daggers possible, millions of pinpricks ripping at his insides. He held his breath to counteract that and realized that as he did that, he found momentary respite. Alas, he had to draw a breath, otherwise he might risk losing consciousness. The excruciating pain filled him once again and he repeated his previous action. At that time, Natsu looked down only to find himself shackled with vines that were black and glossy – and unrelenting. He noticed that his fingers were clenched tightly on the now yielding soil.

And then an infernal cold took hold of everything, making his surroundings still in the same way one would hold their breath while trying to be invisible to some scary creature. It was a balance that was way too precarious…

Then the balance tipped and crashed, which made the vines that were twined all around Natsu constrict painfully, making all the air stored in his lungs escape in a long _whoosh_, at the same time that everything around him started to spin in a kaleidoscope that was bathed in red hues as black and grey tendrils reached towards Natsu in bright flashes of whiteness that hurt his eyes.

What pain he might feel at drawing breath became, then, inconsequential since everything in him hurt.

Something touched his right shoulder, the one where he had his birthmark. It was a strange thing, something that resembled a smudge of black ink on skin more than anything.

The vines dug even deeper into him, stealing what little breath he had managed to regain.

Indescribable pain started to irradiate from the birthmark and coursing through his body, making Natsu's spine bend in a painful arc at the same time that he opened his mouth in a scream – only for no sound to come out of it.

And so he stood, entrapped in that position for what felt like an eternity.

Agonizing.

It all stopped when darkness took over him.

When Natsu woke up he found himself lying on the now green and brown irregular ground. The traces of blood seemed to have been licked away from his body but he noticed that his robe was in complete tatters. He got up and shrugged off of it, standing naked in the middle of the trail.

Natsu let out a snort at that and shook his head wondering amusingly, for a beat, what anyone who crossed him would think of him for being stark naked. As he thought that, his amused grin became a frown. That kind of thought… it… it was wrong. And he should know better.

Then he noticed that his torso and limbs were scoured with red welts – a proof of the presence of the vines on his body. Next he looked at his right shoulder, the place of his birthmark, only to notice that it was surrounded by angrily red skin.

A deep, painless, breath filled his lungs and that air was the sweetest air he had ever gotten. A weight seemed to have lifted off his shoulders and he realized that he might have overcome the first challenge of the Initiation. Still, something nagged at him in the back of his mind – something wasn't quite right yet.

He had to keep going, though. And, chances were that for the next part a different kind of setting was required.

Natsu noticed that the ground began to show a slight slope so he started climbing, heading to higher ground. He noticed that, uphill, in the middle of the overall sea of green with some brown spots here and there, there was a white spot that was clearly noticeable.

He continued his climb, at the same time that he couldn't help but wonder which would be the next trial.

##

As Natsu climbed, he couldn't help but notice the aggressiveness of the elements – especially of the wind – on his skin. He had the same sensation from before, of his body being flayed by razor-sharp winds, but on the other hand he had his feet stepping firmly over solid ground.

As he approached what from far away had seemed like a white spot amidst the vegetation, Natsu started to outline the details.

Turned out that it was a large slab of white stone and in the middle of it a big square protruded. It was also in white stone although roughly carved but despite it all, it stood at a place of attention which meant that it was probably some sort of altar. One man could easily lie down on it. Behind the altar, almost as if overlooking it, stood a large column, as tall as a man, in dark grey stone. It stood tall with its bumps and irregular carving but in the side that faced the altar, there was a relief. A carving that had been done purposefully and with care.

Cautiously, Natsu approached it. The form was… the form was awfully familiar but he could pinpoint what it was. He lifted his hand, the index finger of his right hand running over the form, over and over, absentmindedly. Then, suddenly, he was hit by a flash of reconnaissance. He had traced this form already. Only, beneath his hand had lied soft and moist flesh before his fingers parted the labia slightly and slipped inside.

Oh yes, he knew that form. But what the hell was a carved vulva doing in-

"Oh," Natsu said with some surprise at the same time that his hand jerked away from the stone as if it had been burned.

He noticed that beyond, on the mountain wall and well camouflaged by vegetation, was an entrance that was mostly obscured. Natsu dismissed it for it was probably just a cave and it was of no consequence for what was meant to happen here – at least, if his suppositions were correct… Then again, said cave could harbor the people that were, no doubt, waiting for him to go to the other trial…

His musings were broken when Natsu started to listen to footsteps that came from behind him.

He turned instantly towards the source of the noise only to stand face to face with another young man. He had dark spiky hair and was equally naked. On his right breast a smudge of dark ink on skin, so much alike to his own, was. The newcomer was looking at Natsu too, one eyebrow arching up as he seemed to realize which trial this was.

"Is this what I think it is?" the dark aired one asked, startling Natsu slightly.

"Given that it's only you and me here, pretty much…" Natsu replied.

"So. The sex. It's going to be with you…" the other deadpanned. Crossing his arms in front of him and getting into a belligerent stance.

Natsu rolled his eyes and stared at the other.

"It seems so. No need to be so surprised."

"Well, I _apologize_," his tone indicated that he was doing everything but, "it's just that I didn't expect to have a guy with me in this part."

"Why not?" Natsu asked with a shrug. "As far as I'm aware, for this part you need to have two contrasting essences."

"Unless you have something hidden behind that cock of yours, we're not contrasting." The other snapped.

Natsu glared at him.

"Haven't you head of the rare essences?" he asked, confused.

"No." Was the instant reply. Natsu found himself shaking his head and crossing his arms.

"Well then, the rare essences are, as the name shows, rare. They only appear in the few cases where the paths are interlocked by something more, that overpowers the usual order. And that's how they end up with this part with someone of the same sex. That's kind of the _big_ clue. Or, that's what I was taught. Didn't they tell you this, where you've come from?" the pink haired one asked.

At the other's negative head shake, Natsu shrugged. "Well then, that settles it. One never knows what happens during an Initiation-"

"-because those designs are out of our hands." The other finished the sentence.

Natsu nodded. He was also surprised at being one of those odd occurrences but there was nothing he could do about that. And it also explained the reason as to why he was getting a strange vibe from the other.

He pushed those feelings to the back of his mind and focused on the task at hand – who would bottom.

"Okay, now that we cleared that, we should get down to business." Natsu said.

"Who'll bottom." Said the other.

"Yes. Ah, I'm Natsu, by the way," he said with a smirk. "It's of no use to be doing all of this and not being at a name basis."

"Gray," said the other with a shrug. "And what do you plan to do about this small situation of ours, Natsu?" Gray asked with a dangerous smirk as he edged closer to Natsu.

"I dunno, I…"

"I challenge you." Gray cut Natsu's tirade, freeing his arms so that they rested on his sides, his fighting stance much more pronounced.

"A challenge as in, the old ones?"

"What do you think I'm talking about? Of course that's like the old ones, you dimwit."

"Shut it, squinty eyes." Natsu retorted sharply. "Fine, you want it, you'll get it." The pink haired one said while slipping to a fighting stance himself.

In no time they were on the other, grappling at the other and rolling on the stone floor, snarls leaving their throats as they tried to immobilize the other underneath.

They separated and clambered up, finding themselves on different sides of the altar, growling and their fingers twitching with anticipation. A rustle sounded and that was the signal they needed, Natsu running on top of the altar before jumping to the other side and aiming his kick at Gray who escaped easily by ducking. Gray got up and tackled Natsu once again but he was elbowed in his sternum and ended up straightening and backing down, wheezing.

Natsu seized the opportunity and barreled towards Gray, backing him to the side of the altar, the impact stealing the dark haired one's breath once more.

Natsu caged Gray with his arms and pressed heavily against him, making the harsh stone dig into the other's lower back. Natsu was grinning predatorily.

"I think that I… win." He said finally.

Gray growled in the back of his throat before letting out a sigh.

"Fine. You won. Let's get this over with." He said while pushing Natsu back and sitting up on the altar, lying down on it in the next moment. His hands were flat on the cold stone, his legs extended. He had his eyes closed and a frown marring his features, his mouth set in a grim line.

Natsu saw this as he sat by him and didn't get it.

"Hey, why the frowny face?" he asked as he held Gray's wrist.

Gray opened his eyes and glared at him, in a '_what do you think?'_ kind of way. Natsu chuckled as he caressed the other's arm. "Come on. There's no shame in being at the bottom. Don't you remember the ultimate goal, how reaching it involves getting to the end of _this_ task?" he leaned forward. "Our blood calls for it Gray. Our _selves_ call for it. You don't have to throw a tantrum just because things didn't go the way you envisioned them before."

"So that means that you're up for a change?" Gray quipped.

Natsu threw him an amused grin – he was enjoying the feistiness of his companion.

"Nah. I think that it's fine the way it is. And I won, fair and square."

"That's a pity." Gray replied dryly.

"But I wouldn't be against a change of roles once these trials end. What do you say? Friends, after this?"

In return he only got a snort. And then a hand patted Natsu on the head before Gray answered in a low voice.

"We'll see about that later." He wasn't looking towards Natsu.

Natsu caught Gray's line of sight and grinned once again before setting to work.

His hands started to roam Gray's body slowly, learning all the new things about this new form, his curiosity and urge to explore growing exponentially. He noticed that in one of the corners of the altar there was a small hole that had been filled with a fluid. Natsu plunged his hand in it and kept caressing Gray's body.

Natsu prepared Gray and soon they were joined. Moving towards each other until they got elevated and passed to another plane. Hurtling faster and faster towards each other.(1)

All of a sudden a string snapped and the floodgates opened, in a huge unrelenting wave that, coming from each of them, crashed against the one that came against it. They crashed tumultuously and annihilated each other until there was this _one_ moment where everything connected.

It was no usual connection. Sure, Natsu and Gray were connected physically and in spirits, their essences merging into a sublime moment – and that wasn't anything less than _intense_; but they, in that tiny window of opportunity, also connected to the Nature that surrounded them – they could _get_ and _be_ it. And, at last, they caught a glimpse of themselves – their ultimate goal.

The moment broke and everything came crashing down after that mind-blowing moment of bliss. They lay on the altar, still connected physically but they didn't notice it, still too overwhelmed, his breath coming in harsh gasps and their eyes open wide and unseeing.

After they regained their breaths Gray lifted himself, making Natsu slip from him, and wincing slightly because of his sensitive hole. They sat up slowly, their minds still too far away due to what they had just experienced. They headed to a stream that Gray had found earlier to wash up. When they got back to the altar, two robes in a flimsy fabric were laying on top of the stone. They dressed them to dry up. And then it hit them.

That part of the journey was over.

They were still too stunned that it took them a while to realize that.

As they prepared to part ways Natsu turned to Gray and extended his hand.

"I'll see you around. Good luck with the rest."

Gray grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Sure. Good luck with your next part."

They let go and parted ways, pausing one last time to exchange a look before nodding at the other and heading their separate ways.

##

Natsu reached a clearing where a large bonfire was burning, warding the world from the darkness that started to spread out.

As the sun set, shadows grew and attempted to consume the world, to bring it back to the darkness of the beginning.

Natsu left the cover of the vegetation and walked towards the fire but stopped when he heard a rustling and a dark voice cut the overall silence.

"Do you think that you're ready to take that _one_ step to start fulfilling your _wyrd_?"

Natsu paused, standing stock still for a beat. And then he nodded.

"I am."

The man was clad in a long, loose tunic in dark green and had what looked like a tattoo on the left side of his neck. The black likes continued underneath the neckline. The spiky short blond hair shone like gold in the light that came from the fire.

That tattoo… Natsu had already seen it in others so he had no doubt that before him was a Magister. The man motioned for Natsu to follow him and sit on a stone – a mockery of a seat - that overlooked the valley.

Sitting there made a shiver run up Natsu's spine. Not only because of the cold and the fact that Natsu was still naked, but also because he felt an immense concentration of energy. Natsu didn't say a thing, he just rested his hands on his knees and took a deep breath.

With a cough to clear his throat, the other man started the questions.

"Tell me, what starts the Initiation?"

"It's the Archaic Gods, the Ancestors who dwell in the depths of our primary drives, the vital forces that come from the land. The Archaic Gods are the reasons for the Mysteries of the Underground Deities, the class that is closer to the vital principles and where the separation between the Fire and the Clay is more noticeable."

"And what's the end to the Initiation?"

"It is to meet face to face with that _One_, the _Flame_, that resides behind the mask and shadow of the Ego. To let your conscience reach the Ancestral Memory."

The Magister nodded and continued.

"Which are the processes the Initiated has to go through?"

"There are three steps. And they don't always happen in the same way; you have the Suffering, the Sex and the Wisdom."

"What are the roots meant to be?"

"Not only are they the connection between us and the Ancestors, they are also an important part in the Transfer of Knowledge and Power. " Natsu paused and looked at the bonfire. "Through them you can germinate these concepts in those who are ready."

"Which are the arts related-?" the other man let the question hang.

"Hm." Natsu frowned. "The arts one would encounter more easily would be agriculture and metallurgy. But there's also a strong component connected to eroticism and witchcraft." He shrugged. "Which ones did you mean?"

His interlocutor's face remained closed off as he continued to ask his questions.

"Which is the catalyst?"

At this Natsu smiled faintly.

"The _Fire_. The _Cunning Fire_ can't be held and is the true knowledge as to how to go beyond the lackluster reality. It allows the transmutation from rational conscience."

"Who's the bearer of Sweet-Blood?"

"Are all those who carry the Double Nature very presently. They have…" Natsu frowned a bit, trying to remember the words. "They are that step closer from the Double Conscience, closer from the original Serpent and the Land. A symbol of the Lineage. Those who have it usually get some signs…" he fell silent when the Magister lifted his hand, signaling that it was enough already.

"Tell me about the _Word_."

"It's the essence for the personality to be built. It's its skeleton, really. Mastering it will allow you to create riddles which are essential to the weave of the words and their outcomes. Once the mastery reaches a certain level the meaning increases tenfold."

And so the questioning on the major topics continued. Natsu's replies were measured and calmly accepted.

Night had settled, bringing some humidity and noises to the forest at the same time that in the velvety darkness overhead little white spots twinkled.

The Magister stood up and produced a cup. No words were exchanged as Natsu accepted it and glimpsed at it. It was filled almost to the brim but the surface reflected little specs of gold. Absentmindedly Natsu noticed the Magister leave, walking around the bonfire and merge with the shadows of the forest.

And that was it.

Natsu was alone.

Drinking the beverage would be the last step for him to take on this test, on this ultimate trial that would open the doors, the first real doors, on the Path to Wisdom.

But… everything was gone, now. He had overcome the hurdles, challenged the rules carved in unmovable stone. Everything to prepare him for _this_.

What he had to face.

Himself.

He was going to have to lose the sense to the restrictions imposed by society, things that he had faced and challenged outwardly – now was the time to face them inwardly – so that it was time for him to be connected with all the others.

He lifted the cup, the rim resting against his lower lip. The acrid tang from the beverage hit his nostrils but Natsu didn't hesitate, he downed the beverage quickly.

Everything went black instantly.

Natsu didn't even hear the noise of the cup crashing on the stone or felt his body slump to the side – the golden light from the fire still dancing contently over his golden skin.

#

Natsu came to in the middle of a pretty convoluted scene.

First of all, this place he was at couldn't be further from the one where he was just moments before. The green, peaceful landscape, shrouded in dark green and black from the night sky had turned into tall, harsh buildings that stood in stark relief against the sky.

Natsu was lying on the ground which, he noticed, was composed of dark grey stone, the same that had apparently been used on the buildings. As he stood up, Natsu saw that the sky had an alarming colour – it was of a deep red, which unsettled Natsu, put him on edge instantly.

At that moment, movement surrounded him. Shadows moved all around him, some on his sides and some others nearly crashing against him, only to avoid it on the last second. There was a sense of urgency and panic in the air.

That was when the ground started to tremble, powerful, shuddering shakes and vines and wood and vegetation, contrasting with the previous colours with their light browns and bright greens, started to cut and grow from the gaping holes ripped on the grey of the ground. They started to destroy the dull motionlessness.

The two sides, grey with red and brown with green, started a massive battle where the one who overcame the other would be the ultimate ruler. All that violence made the initial spot where Natsu had been lying and later standing start to crumble.

Natsu realized, with a jolt, what the two fronts stood for.

In the end it was a battle between the rules of society against the beginning of times, what was natural.

Slowly, the civilization started to fall back, being destroyed by the strength of the Ancestors – which meant that Natsu was one step closer to his goal.

When Nature finally won, everything changed. The air became more peaceful and small noises and a sweet scent started to permeate the air.

However, an edge still remained in the air.

The sun rose and ascended the sky in what looked like a lazy motion.

Natsu stopped contemplating the sky and saw, surprised, that in front of him was a large ring of stones so white they looked like polished bone.

Inside that ring a bonfire reminiscent from the one he had left behind in the night, was burning high. It was immense and stood tall, pointing towards the now white sky.

It was burning majestically in the couple of beats since Natsu had noticed and approached it but then it grew even further and expanded creating a massive wall of fire that cut straight through the stones and extended, in both sides, towards the horizon, seemingly so far away that it blurred with the sky in the distance.

Natsu knew, then, that he had to cross it. He gulped. Not because he was afraid of the fire, no, he had always had great affinity to that element, but because such a fire demanded respect. And caution. One of the corners of his mouth tilted up at his thought about caution. He threw caution to the wind.

So, he stepped forward, the barest of hesitations stopping him before he went into the flames.

The fire didn't hurt Natsu – on the contrary, it cleansed him, licking at him playfully, in a way that felt both comforting and familiar.

Natsu went past the wall of fire, breathing heavily but coming up with a strange feeling of contentment. It was rather odd.

Seeing the white sky once again spurred Natsu to continue to move once again.

At first he started seeing shapes but as he got closer he paused to talk to the people that were standing there waiting for him, people he had mentioned before – the Ancestors – and they gave him words to motivate him and pointed him in the right direction.

As he continued to walk, Natsu could see some events unfolding right in front of him.

He saw the First Ancestors, the Angels falling towards the ground. First they were imprisoned – great maws opened from the ground and closed around them, then stood for immemorial times shackled to that same ground, the tiny and odd hole the only chance they had to catch a glimpse at the sky and how the soil of the underground had started to consume their weakening physical bodies. When they had finally been entirely consumed by it, they became part of the Nature.

Natsu could feel his blood rushing through him, rejoicing and making Natsu feel light-headed.

He paused to get his breath back, curling forward so that his hands were resting on his knees. Heavy breaths coming out of him.

That was when he looked down on himself and noticed that, despite all the trials and challenges, there was still one small part of civilization that clung to him, viciously.

Natsu straightened up, his mouth in a tight, displeased line. He then decided to shed these clothes too. He threw them back, in the direction of the fire.

As he readied himself to continue his path, a noise reached him.

Natsu turned towards where the source of the noise had seemed to come from only to see himself walking towards him, in measured steps. _That_ Natsu had a neutral expression on his face but, as he got closer, it was possible to see that one corner of his mouth was titling upwards. As he approached, Natsu could notice that there was triumph and consideration on the other-Natsu's eyes.

The other-Natsu stopped, a scarce distance between them.

As he opened his mouth to speak, Natsu quickly cut in.

"I finally got you." He said confidently.

His other self smiled and started to dissolve into thin air before his eyes, the particles heading towards Natsu with a dizzying speed. That created a mist that surrounded Natsu and held an immensity of colours that flickered too fast for Natsu to comprehend.

#

Natsu woke up to a blue sky where the sun was shining, still somewhat feebly, above the treetops.

It was morning.

And Natsu was back to where he should be, at a place here the sky was blue instead of that strange white or that unsettling red.

He seemed to be lying on the rough seat where the Magister had left him. As he made to straighten up, he felt that something in his right shoulder was smarting. He turned to look at it only to see that the smudge from his birthmark had shifted and turned into a symbol, so perfect that it looked like someone had just painted it on his skin. It was composed of what seemed to be three half-moons where their tips were joined to create the center and then their disposition formed a circle.

Natsu let himself lay back on the stone, a grin splitting his face and his right hand curled in a fist.

He _got_ it.

* * *

Note:

wti-Magister – sub-Magister

Wyrd - fate

(1) Due to ffn's restrictions, if you want to read the full story, do head to my AO3 account. Link in my profile.

**A/N:** Birthday fic to my dearest Subkulture! Happy birthday, my dear!

This is a theme that I felt like writing about, from recent readings and stuff. Hope you enjoyed it. ^^

Subculture also did the favour of taking a look at this before I posted. Any remaining typos are my own.

Feedback is appreciated, as usual. ^^


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